A Fresh Start
by Maegfen
Summary: Set post 01x22: Coulson attempts to organize the base and makes an important decision...


Author's note: Hello! New to writing for this fandom but these two (and this show) just won't leave me alone and I had to write a little something down. I have a couple of other stories half finished too, so I'll try and get those up at some point in the near future in between finishing my stories in my other main fandoms.

This is set after 01x22 and ignores the post-credit scene (because I wanted a happy!fic). Spoilers for the whole series, but especially the final story arc.

* * *

The Playground seemed to have a similar layout to Providence, although with fewer lights and a lot less grey (more beige though, which he felt was just as bad). Still, Phil thought as he sat at his desk, it was a start. Having another Koenig around was excellent, although slightly strange, and the other man's enthusiasm rivaled his own. It had been a week since they'd defeated Ward and Garrett and the team had spent that time recuperating and catching up on some well-earned sleep.

At least, the _rest_ of the team had. Phil had been far too busy trying to figure out where to start the restructuring and rebuilding of S.H.I.E.L.D. _That_ daunting task had led to more than enough late nights and a dozen incredibly thorough tours of the half-empty site with Koenig at his side in order to set up a workable base of operations.

They were in the process of placing, _replacing_ and reshuffling various rooms and stations across the base. While the Playground had been maintained as a temporary retreat for S.H.I.E.L.D agents, much like its sister site in Canada, it had never been intended to house operations long term. It was taking all of Phil's time and patience to organize the set-up of S.H.I.E.L.D's latest facility. Everything needed a new home, from the communications room to the barracks to the team's own offices.

He had had first choice of offices of course, and he'd selected one on the first floor; a spacious room overlooking the main atrium. As soon as he'd announced his decision, Billy had arrived with a small wooden box, placed it on his new desk and left him to it.

Inside had been some mint condition Captain America cards, signed by Cap himself; clearly Fury's welcoming gift (_or a belated apology, _Phil had mused to himself). Overwhelmed, Phil had placed them on a nearby shelf, deciding to let his antique collection spread from the Bus to his new base of operations. He'd been staring at the same cards for the last 20 minutes while trying to decide whether the coms room should be next to the hanger bay or the cafeteria. The blueprints of the base were laid out in front of him, but the numbers and rooms and finer details had long since become a fuzzy blur. Phil decided he _really_ needed a break. Or glasses.

A soft knock on the office's open door disturbed his thoughts and he looked up to see Melinda leaning casually against the door frame, the recently acquired lanyard hanging loosely around her neck as her arms remained folded against her chest. He smiled, waved her in and watched as she returned his smile with one of her own. She entered and took a seat across from him. Melinda glanced around, as if taking in the sparse décor, before she turned her attention back to him. She didn't, however, immediately start a conversation.

"What's up?" He asked eventually, tapping his fingers idly over the plans on his desk. Melinda watched him for a couple of seconds before she answered.

"Skye believes she can have more in-depth satellite surveillance on the go in the next couple of hours. Using the rest of the data from the hard drive we should be able to track down any remaining pockets of HYDRA resistance, as well as trace any likely allies."

Phil nodded distractedly and systematically began opening each of the drawers in his desk, as if looking for hidden HYDRA bugs. They were all empty and he was glad there were no secrets hiding amongst the cobwebs.

"That's good. Great. Excellent."

"Phil? Are you ok?" Concern laced Melinda's voice as she leant forward slightly and observed him across the desk.

Phil looked up suddenly, belatedly realizing that he was in the middle of a conversation. He smiled apologetically at Melinda before he responded.

"I'm fine. Still a bit overwhelmed by everything I think. A week ago I was ordering pizza from a dodgy motel under a pseudonym, and now I'm de facto Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's a lot to take in."

"Fury was right to trust you with this Phil. He trusted you with T.A.H.I.T.I. and there's no one more suited, or dedicated, to returning S.H.I.E.L.D. to its former glory."

"With hopefully fewer Nazi insurgents," Phil joked wryly, leaning back into the big office chair. It was incredibly comfortable and he relished the feeling of relaxation, closing his eyes and taking a deep soothing breath before looking up at the woman opposite him.

Melinda smiled. "Yeah, if you could carefully vet everyone who joins, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Who says I have to do the vetting? I'm in charge of the whole organization now, I can delegate!"

"Right," May fixed him with her patented 'I'm going to humor you' look. "And who exactly are you going to delegate this task to?"

"My Deputy Director of course."

There was silence as the two of them looked at each other. Phil raised an eyebrow at her, which she returned. After a few seconds of silence he couldn't hold back.

"That's you Melinda. You're my Deputy Director."

Still she said nothing. The silence stretched out and Phil began to feel uncomfortable… maybe he'd made a huge mistake.

"That is, if you want it. No obligation of course, but there's no-one else I trust more…"

"Even after…" The guilt in Melinda's voice broke his heart; they'd hurt each other so badly in all of this, the mental wounds taking far longer to heal than the physical ones.

Phil was resolute in his reply. "No-one Melinda. You've had my back since day one and it's high time you have the position to warrant it. It would be my honor to have you serve as my second in command. Officially. Because you obviously were on the Bus and after and…yeah..." He trailed off and gestured at her vaguely, leaning back into his seat once more.

Melinda sat silent for a moment, clearly processing everything. Eventually she spoke again.

"It would be my honor to serve under you… Director." She smirked as she spoke, raising an eyebrow again at the man sat across from her.

Phil groaned, sweeping a hand through his short hair. "Ok, please don't call me that, it makes me feel old and weird."

She smiled just a little before speaking again.

"And I'm still not vetting _all the _potential S.H.I.E.L.D. candidates. I'll help, but you're making the final decisions Phil. S.H.I.E.L.D. is yours to build and everyone we bring in should be decided on by you."

Phil nodded and turned around, looking over the main atrium. Koenig was showing Trip some of the defense features that had recently been installed and Skye and Simmons were conferring about something in the far corner. There were several panels open and it looked like several long cables were trailing between the wall and a large tv monitor. Clearly the scientist was attempting to assist their resident hacker with her surveillance hook-up. On the right was a small entrance to the medical bay which housed Fitz, the young man currently deep in a medically induced coma. Phil had been informed that morning that there were good odds on his survival; that all he needed was time.

And time was what they had a lot of. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't going to be rebuilt in a day, Phil knew. But he had friends, his family really, and a fresh start. He turned back to Melinda.

"Deal; I'll make all final decisions on any potential agents but you can run all the initial background checks with Skye." He watched as Melinda nodded her agreement to his terms and sighed. He stood then and wiped a hand across his face, suddenly feeling incredibly weary. "Excellent, then this is officially the start, or should I say continuation of, a beautiful partnership. Now that that's sorted, I really need a break; coffee?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Let's get some and see how our team is doing then."

The two of them left the office quietly, Melinda leading the way and Phil following behind, his hand resting gently on the small of her back. He pulled the door to as they went through it, glimpsing the pristine cards on the shelf as he did so. Yeah, he thought, it was a definite new beginning.


End file.
